Wednesday, February 09, 2011

The activist in question of course is called "Hassan Mohammed Al Hammadi" and is currently residing on Khor Fakkan, which follows Sharjah.

I will give you a rough translation or summary of the events. Basically after friday prayers, Hassan decided to give a speech at his local mosque, about a topic related to what is currently occuring in Egypt. The Criminal Investigation depeartment picked up on him and he is currently jailed in Abu Dhabi.

Emirati Human rights activist Ahmed Mansour meanwhile, states that this is a part of a wider campaign by the government that has shown an unrestrained crackdown on the citizens of the UAE, since the death of Sheikh Zayed.

According to Ahmed, many Emiratis have been:

Denied jobs in government security serves

Banned from travel

Fired from their jobs

Accordingly, many of these peoples families have been targeted by:

Firing them from their jobs

Not allowing them any chance of promotion

Denying their Children University Scholarships.

I'm not sure of the validity of the usually-dramatic Al Jazeera. However this has caused me to be more careful. If such acts indeed take place, then these acts are backward, wanton, and are nothing the UAE, which portrays itself as a moderate and developing country, should associate itself with.

The good job that the ruling families have done with the UAE must not be negatively affected with these terrible (if actual) things.

There will never be freedom with these royal families, they need to be uprooted in anyway, countries of the GCC cannot protect themselves from foreign occupation/interests/intervention being divided into small weak entities. and the real barriers to any serious integration are these royal families and a lack of political will.